Warm-air distributor for furnaces



July 2, 1929.

W/ TNESS J. C. BAKER WARM AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR FURNACES Filed June 27, 1928 I III,

TTDRNEVS' Y MPM Patented July 2, 1929.

OFFICE-,3 v

JOSEPH CHENEY BAKER, or SYRACUSE; NEW YORK.

WARM-AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR FURNACES.

Application filed June 27,

This invention relates to a warm air distributing device' for furnaces of the house heating type in which the heater proper is usually surrounded by an airljacket having.

l a cold air inlet at or near the bottom anda plurality of warm air outlets leading from the top or dome of the outer case. to the several rooms to be heated.

It is well-known that in furnaces of this character the warm air accumulating in the.

distributing chamber or dome of the acket is more or less unevenly distributed through the several outlet pipes depending somewhat upon the exposure of the room to be heated,

the difference in the lengths and sizes of the pipes and the position of the room'to be heated relatively to the furnace, but in all cases the heated airwill usually follow the course of less resistance either through the larger pipes or through those leading to the rooms more nearly directly over and closer to the heater thereby deprivingother rooms of sufficient heat. v p

. The main object ofthe present invention is to provide automatic means actuatedby the upfiowing current of air from around the heater to the distributing chamber of the jacket for collecting and. projecting the heated airmore uniformly to all of the distributing pipes. U j v In other words, I have sought to obtain this even distributionassimply and econom icallyas possible by the use of. a comparatively light supplemental dome rotatably. mounted between the upper ends of they heater and jacket provided with a plurality of relativelylarge delivery. nozzles or pipes arranged in uniformly spacedrela- ;tion about the axis of rotationsubstantially tangent .to a circle passing through thebases thereof and also inclined vertically at; an

angle to said axis with their outer discharge ends disposed in substantially the same: horizontal plane as the inner ends of. the dis-. tributingpipes leadingfrom the jacket; so that the heated air impinginga gainst the upper inclined walls of the nozzles will produce a 'slow rotation of the supplemental dome for the purpose of projecting the dome into and through the distributing pipes as the nozzles are successively regis-.

tered therewith during such rotation.

Other objects and uses relating to specific I The "peripheral walls of. thedonie are preferably inclinedverticallyso as to;

" converge upwardlyfor receiving a series of. warm airdistributingpipes which are heated-air accumulated in said supplement-e11 1928,. Serial N0. 288,567.

parts of the distributing device, will ,be brought out in the following description. In the drawings: t

Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalview of: the upperportion of a' furnace and my improved warm air distributor therein.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the upper portion of the furnace.

just below the top of the distributing chamber and at aboutthe level of the inner ends of the distributing pipes showing my iIn proved distributor in operative position,

Figure 3 is a side elevation of thedetached warm air distributor as an article of manu facture adapted to be installed in a furnace.

In order that the invention may be clear-j 1y understood I'have. shown ajportion of a heater 1 surrounded'by a jacket or;

calsing 2 to form anzintervening air. chamber 3 nto which the cold ,air is adapted to. enter, preferably near the bottom thereof to be heated by the heater and dome as 4 of the casing 2-..

then collected in the distributing chamber or .The heater is shown as p w ilth supplemental heating flue 5 near thetop thereof-but mainly in spaced relation to the upper'portion-of the heater so as to over-- hang the upper portion;of the air chamber 3 in spaced relation tothe top thereof. wardly within and around the supplemental l heating chamber to increase the temof the air entering the distributing. I

thus permitting the heated air to flow. up-

p efi e chamber 4r. 1 The chamber is provided with a ing the heating receiving chamber or warm securedftosaid walls in more or less. uniformly spaced relation .circumferentlally with their inner. ends in substantially'thez same. horizontal plane and their outer ends l adingto the several. rooms to beh a said pipes being disposed-at. substantially goo closed top 6-Yi n thef-form of an inverted cone having its apex directly over-the center... of the top of the heater '-1. therebyform-f ticalshaft10 having its lower end journaled on a ball-bearing 11 on the upper end of the heater .l and itsupper end journaled on the lower tapered end of a screw -12 centrally in the top wall 6 of the jacket 2' as shown in Figure 1.

The shell 9- is secured to the intermediate portion of the shaft 10 with its concave side facing downwardly and in close proximity to the upper wall of the heating chamber.-2- and upper end of the heater The top wall of the shell 9 is provided with a plurality of openings arranged in more or less uniformly spaced relation C11- cumferentially about the axis of and some distance from the shaft 10 for receiving the lower ends of a plurality of warm air distributing pipes or nozzles 13 having their upper outer ends open and disposed in close proximityto the upwardly converging walls of the chamber A and in about the same horizontal planeas theinner ends of the distributing ipes 7- for delivering the heated air rom the interior of the shell 9. to the several distributing pipes -7 as the supplemental dome or distributor is rotated Thisrotation of the "shell -9 with the pipes 13thereonis preferably effected automatically by the upfiow of the heated air from the interior of the shell -9- through the pipes .13 and for thispurpose the pipes '13' are secured at their I lower ends to. the shell -9- to extend outwardly, upwardly and tangentially, to a circle passing through the lower ends of the pipes in a direction opposed to the direction of rotation of the distributor.

The distributor pipes 13 are also in *clined upwardly and outwardly from the shell '9 in a direction opposite the direction of rotation so that the heated air enteringthe lower open side of the shell will impinge against the upwardly and-laterally inclined top W l i the tributing.pipesp13 with sufiicient force to efiect a relatively slow rotation of the distributor. in the direction indicated by arrow -m.-., Figure 2. 1

This rotation of the distributor causes the outer. ends of the pipes or nozzles -13 to successively register with the lower inner ends of the distributing pipes 7 whereby the same currents of air which eiiect the rotation of the distributor will be successively discharged into the distributing pipes Theshell 9 is of sufiiciently large diameter to extend across the larger portion of the horizontal area of the interior of the casing -2 so as to overhang the intervening space between the heating drum -5 and dome of the heater 1 for receiving and concentrating the heated air passing through the intervening space between the drum 5-- and dome of the heater and directing such heated air through the discharge nozzles -l3- and thence into the distributing pipes 7 as the nozzles 13- are successively registered therewith.

It will be evident from the foregoing de scription that the air passing through the intervening space between the heating drum 5 and dome of the heater 1- will be heated to a higher temperature than the air in the outer portions of the casing by reason of its close contact with the walls of the heater, and the placing of the shell 9 directly over .this intervening space causes this highly heated air to be concentrated within the shell 9 and distributed therefrom through the nozzles 13 into the several distributing pipes 7- as the shell -9- with the pipes 13 thereon is rotated by the circulation of the heated air upwardly through the shell 9 and noz zles 13-.

The ball-bearing 11 rests in a concave seat in the face of a bearing member 1l. on the upper end of the dome of the heater -1 and is also engaged in a concave seat -10 in the lower end of the shaft 10 for holding that end of the shaft against lateral displacement and at the same time permitting free rotation of the shaft and distributor mounted thereon with a minimum resistance. 7 The central portion of the top 6 of the casing 2, is provided with a hub -6" havingya central threaded aperture in the upper endthereof for receiving the screw-bearing 12 The lower end otthe screw -12 pointed and engaged in a tapered recess in, the upper end of the shaft -l0-fto hold that end of the shaft against lateral dis-' placement and also to permit freerotation of the shaft with the distributor thereon with a minimum amountof resistance, the screw ,12 beingadjustable endwise to take up wear and to facilitate the installa tion of the. distributor betweon the upper end of the dome of the heater -l and top The distributor shell -9- and its delivery nozzles -l3. are constructed and arranged in such manner as to substantially balance the distributor on its bearings 11- and 12- under which conditions the outer ends of the delivery nozzles 13-- may be arranged in quite close proximity to the peripheral walls of the chamber -4t to assure a more positive and forcible projection of the heated air from said nozzles into the delivery pipes 7 as the distributor is rotated. p

The-shell 9 is providedwith a central hub for receiving the shaft "10','said hub being secured to the shaft by one or more cross'pins 14, Figure 1, to assure the positive rotation of the distributor'with the shaft. f

The distributor shell 9- with the shaft 10 and nozzles -13 thereon. is preferably placed in operative position upon the ball-bearing 11-- before theldome or cap section of the casing 2 is placed upon the main body of the casing and before the When the parts are assembled in the man ner described and the heater -1 is in operation the heated air passing upwardly along the outside of the heater and within the chamber -3 continues to pass through the intervening space between the dome of the heater and heating drum 5 and into the shell --9 and thence into the distributing nozzles 13.

This upward circulation of the air is rather rapid by reason of its highly heated condition and impinges against the upper inclined walls of the distributing nozzles 13- with suflicient force to cause a slow rotation of the distributor shell 9 with the nozzles thereon while at the same time the'highly heated air entering the distributing shell and nozzles passes outwardly through the nozzles and thence intothe distributing pipes 7 as the nozzles are successively registered therewith during said rotation thereby projecting the heated air of more or less uniform tempera ture into each of the distributing pipes leading to the several rooms to be heated, all of which tends to maintain a uniform temperature in each of the rooms or at least establishing adirect flow of the heated air into each room.

The heating drum may be connected in any well-known manner to the smoke outlet of the heater '1- to allow the products of combustion to pass therethrough thereby materially increasing the heat radiating area of the heater and at the same time acthighly 1 .ing as a ballle to divert and direct therup flowing air between the heater and casing toward the more highly'heat'ed dome of the heater and thence between said dome and drum into' the overlying distributor shell This concentration of the upflowing air against 'the'hottest parts of the heater produces a more or less superheating of the air which accelerates its upflow between the dome'and drum of the heater into the dis tributor shell 9 and this accelerated upflow tends to draw the air from the upper portion of the chamber 6 into the space" between'the drum and dome of the heater for superheating the same and then direct ing the superheated air into the distributor shell '9 whence it flows easily and more or less rapidly through the distributing pipes "13 into the heater pipes '7.

Under thesegconditions theimpact of the upwardly circulating air against the top walls of the nozzles 13 causes the rota-- tion of the-distributor shell -,9 and during this rotation the superheated air will pass easily and moreor less rapidly through the nozzles 13 and will be delivered at relatively high but uniform temperatures into each of the pipes 7- as the nozzles are successively registered therewith thereby assuring a more uniform circulation of the superheated air to each of the rooms to which the pipes 7 are connected.

What I claim is 1. In a house-heating furnace having a receiving chamber for the heated air and pipes leading from said chamber to the rooms to be heated, an air distributor-shell rotatably mounted within said chamber for receiving portions of the heated air and provided with means against which the current of heated air impinges for rotating the shell, said meansbeing arranged to direct the heated air from the interior of the shell into the pipes as the shell is rotated.

2. Ina house-heating furnace having a receiving chamber for the heated air and pipes leading from said chamber to the rooms to be heated, a circular shell centrally journaled within said chamber to rotate about a vertical-axis and provided with an open lower end for receiving the heated air, said shell having outlet openings through its top wall some distance from the axis of rotation for permitting the passage of the heated air from the interior to the exterior of the shell, and means extending upwardly and later-ally across said openings rooms to be heated, an air distributor shell rotatably mounted within said chamber for receiving portions of the heated air and provided with a series of upwardly andlaterally inclined discharge nozzles leading from the interior thereof, said nozzles having their outer ends movable across and in close proximity to the inner ends of said vpipes as the shell is rotated, the shell being rotated by the impingement of the heated air against the inclined walls of the nozzles in transit thcrethrough. v I v 4. The combination with a heater and an air jacket surrounding the heater in spaced relation thereto, said jacket having a top Wall directly over and in spaced relation to the top of the heater to form a receiving chamber for the heated air, pipes leading from said chamber to the rooms to be heated, and a nozzle-supporting member rotatably mounted in said chamber between the upper end of the heater and top Wall of the jacket and provided With a series'of nozzles arranged about its axis of rotation for receiving heated air from said chambers, said nozzles being disposed at an angle to their plane of rotation to cause the impact of air thereagainst to rotate said member and having their outer ends movable across and in proximity to the innerends of said pipes for discharging the heated air into the pipes as the member is rotated.

5. The combination with a furnace having a heater, a casing enclosing the heater in spaced relation thereto to form an air chamher, and air-distributing pipes leading from the upper portion of said chamber, of arotary member mounted in said chamber and actuated by the heated air in transit through the chamber to the'distributing pipes, said member having means for directing the heated air into the several pipes during said rotation.

In witness vvhereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of June, 1928.

J. CHENEY BAKER; 

